Michael Flynn re-emerges as major witness in Robert Mueller's inquiry – and at least two others

Former Trump administration national security adviser Michael Flynn appeared before a federal court Tuesday. It was the first time he had appeared in court since he plead guilty to lying to the FBI. (July 10)
AP

Former national security adviser Michael Flynn leaves after an appearance at U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.(Photo: Jack Gruber, USA TODAY)

WASHINGTON – Among the blacked-out court papers outlining the extensive cooperation Michael Flynn provided to Russia special counsel Robert Mueller is a powerful acknowledgment that President Donald Trump’s former national security adviser assisted not only Mueller’s inquiry but at least two other investigations.

The subjects of the investigations were not identified, nor did the documents elaborate on Flynn’s specific contributions.

The court filing, however spare, signals that the retired Army lieutenant general – who had largely faded from the public stage since his guilty plea last year – is likely to play an increasingly larger role as the investigations shadowing the Trump administration grind to a conclusion.

The sensitive nature of Flynn's cooperation, prosecutors said, required that the details remain under seal, adding that the "benefit may not be fully realized at this time because the investigations in which he has provided assistance are ongoing."

"The defendant provided first-hand information about the content and context of interactions between the (Trump) transition team and Russian government officials," the court documents state.

President Donald Trump, center, speaks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, left, and Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak during their meeting in the White House on May 10, 2017.(Photo: RUSSIAN FOREIGN MINISTRY HANDOUT, EPA)

Mueller's conclusions, legal analysts said, probably served as a blunt warning to members of the administration who worked closely with the national security adviser and were consulted on his Russian contacts, specifically involving Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak.

Flynn's cooperation was secured last year as part of his guilty plea to lying to the FBI in part about his pre-inaugural contacts with Kislyak related to sanctions imposed by the Obama administration for Russia's interference in the 2016 campaign.

"The message that this sends, given Flynn's central role in the transition (to the Trump administration), is that if transition members are not fully lawyered-up yet, they should do so now," said Ilene Jaroslaw, a former federal prosecutor who once worked closely with Mueller's top aides in the Brooklyn U.S. Attorney's Office. "This document, even though it is heavily redacted, speaks louder than any public statement or press conference could ever accomplish."

Particularly striking, Jaroslaw said, was the reference to the scope of Flynn's cooperation, which was provided during the course of 19 separate interviews with Mueller's team during the past year.

Jaroslaw said the number of interviews, though substantial, was not necessarily surprising, given Flynn's central role as a foreign policy adviser during the campaign and during his brief time as national security adviser.

Mueller's team probably needed broad access to Flynn as it sought to corroborate the testimony of other witnesses. Indeed, in the 17 months since Mueller was appointed to lead the investigation, his prosecutors, including Andrew Weissmann, have established a hard-charging reputation in dealing with cooperating witnesses.

Though little is publicly known about Flynn's role as witness in the two other investigations referenced in the court documents, former Chicago federal prosecutor Greg Deis said Mueller's reference to them "clearly telegraphs to those who do know about these cases that there are others in the crosshairs."

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President Trumps former national security adviser Mike Flynn pleaded guilty on Friday to lying to FBI agents about his contacts with Russias ambassador, and agreed to cooperate with prosecutors. -- Jack Gruber, USA TODAY

President Trump's former national security adviser Mike Flynn pleaded guilty on Friday to lying to FBI agents about his contacts with Russias ambassador, and agreed to cooperate with prosecutors. Jack Gruber, USA TODAY

Former Trump national security adviser Michael Flynn, center, arrives at federal court in Washington, Dec. 1, 2017. Court documents show Flynn, an early and vocal supporter on the campaign trail of President Donald Trump whose business dealings and foreign interactions made him a central focus of Mueller's investigation, will admit to lying about his conversations with Russia's ambassador to the United States during the transition period before Trump's inauguration. Susan Walsh, AP

Journalists line the sidewalk to photograph Michael Flynn, former national security advisor to President Donald Trump, as he arrives for his plea hearing at the Prettyman Federal Courthouse Dec. 1, 2017 in Washington, DC. Chip Somodevilla, Getty Images

Former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn (R) arrives at the at the E. Barrett Prettyman Federal Courthouse in Washington, DC, Dec. 2017. Others are not identified. Flynn is expected to plead guilty to lying to the FBI on two conversations with the Russian ambassador during the presidential transition in 2016. MICHAEL REYNOLDS, EPA-EFE

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Deis said the documents, in addition to informing Flynn's sentencing judge about the level of his cooperation, serve as a public appeal for other potential witnesses to come forward.

Mueller's recommendation that Flynn serve no prison time, Deis said, sends a message that "there can be a significant upside" to cooperating with the special counsel.

Deis said that message is particularly timely, given the collapse of Mueller's cooperation agreement with former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort, prompting Trump to suggest Manafort could be eligible for a pardon.

Manafort, convicted of financial fraud, repeatedly lied to federal investigators after agreeing to cooperate with Mueller's team in September, prosecutors said.

"That (pardon discussion) was likely not lost on the special counsel," Deis said.

David Weinstein, a former federal prosecutor in Miami, said the Flynn memo revealed how a witness can benefit.

“The message that it sends is that if (cooperation) comes in early, if you accept responsibility for what you’ve done and you’re truthful about what your cooperation is ... you’re going to be rewarded for that,” Weinstein said.

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Mueller leaves after briefing members of the Senate Judiciary Committee on the investigation into Russia's interference in the 2016 presidential election on Capitol Hill on June 21, 2017. Michael Reynolds, European Pressphoto Agency

Mueller arrives for a court hearing at the Phillip Burton Federal Building in San Francisco on April 21, 2016. He had been overseeing settlement talks with Volkswagen, the U.S. government and private lawyers for the automaker to buy back some of the nearly 600,000 diesel cars that cheat on emissions tests. Jeff Chiu, AP